"We're on the eve of the greatest day in our nation's history"

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2002)

The "Longest Day" is a massive film of the greatest day of the war. The movie begins with the pre-invasion plans by the generals and the rest of the army. It shows many of the key officer's plans, complaints and excitement about the forthcoming invasion. From there the movie recounts the incidents from every aspect of D-Day: the citizens of Normandy, the Germans, the Paratroopers, the troops who landed on the beaches those troops who had to scale to verticle sea cliffs in order to even reach the enemy.

"The Longest Day" won two 1962 Oscars, one of which was for cinematography, and although it is 1962 black and white you can still appreciate the cinematography. One of my favorite scenes from the movie was when Major Pluskat (Hans Christian Blech) is looking out his dugout window and he ses that massive Allies armada appear on the horizon.
An amazing cast ensemble. How many other movies could boast a cast of over 40 international stars. When someone asks you who's in the movie you could go on for a couple minutes listing easily recognizable names. The leading names in the movie include war film legends John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and Robert Mitchum. John Wayne leads the paratroopers while Fonda and Mitchum take the beaches. Allies and axis rivals Sean Connery and Gerte Frobe two years later will team up again as rivals only this time as James Bond and Goldfinger. None of these stands out above the rest they all did an excellent job.
This movie is very much worth the time to watch it.